scholarly journals How stabilizing selection and nongenetic inheritance combine to shape the evolution of phenotypic plasticity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Levis ◽  
David W. Pfennig
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Nongenetic Inheritance

Phenotypic plasticity of the gastropod Melanoides tuberculata in the Nile Delta: A pollution-induced stabilizing selection

2018 ◽  
Vol 133 ◽  
pp. 701-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Awad Abdelhady ◽  
Esraa Abdelrahman ◽  
Ashraf M.T. Elewa ◽  
Jiawei Fan ◽  
Shengrui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Nile Delta ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Melanoides Tuberculata

scholarly journals Drosophila suzukii wing spot size is robust to developmental temperature

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceferino Varón-González ◽  
Antoine Fraimout ◽  
Vincent Debat
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Spot Size ◽  
Invasion Success ◽  
Directional Asymmetry ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Wing Size ◽  
Drosophila Suzukii ◽  
Developmental Temperature

ABSTRACTPhenotypic plasticity is an important mechanism allowing adaptation to new environments and as such it has been suggested to facilitate biological invasions. Under this assumption, invasive populations are predicted to exhibit stronger plastic responses than native populations. Drosophila suzukii is an invasive species whose males harbor a spot on the wing tip. In this study, by manipulating developmental temperature, we compare the phenotypic plasticity of wing spot size of two invasive populations with that of a native population. We then compare the results with data obtained from wild-caught flies from different natural populations. While both wing size and spot size are plastic to temperature, no difference in plasticity was detected between native and invasive populations, rejecting the hypothesis of a role of the wing-spot plasticity in the invasion success. In contrast we observed a remarkable stability in the spot-to-wing ratio across temperatures, as well as among geographic populations. This stability suggests either that the spot relative size is under stabilizing selection, or that its variation might be constrained by a tight developmental correlation between spot size and wing size. Our data show that this correlation was lost at high temperature, leading to an increased variation in the relative spot size, particularly marked in the two invasive populations. This suggests (i) that D. suzukii’s development is impaired by hot temperatures, in agreement with the cold-adapted status of this species; (ii) that the spot size can be decoupled from wing size, rejecting the hypothesis of an absolute constraint and suggesting that the wing color pattern might be under stabilizing (sexual) selection; (iii) that such sexual selection might be relaxed in the invasive populations. Finally, a subtle but consistent directional asymmetry in spot size was detected in favor of the right side in all populations and temperatures, possibly indicative of a lateralized sexual behavior.

scholarly journals Nongenetic inheritance and multigenerational plasticity in the nematode C. elegans

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Ryan Baugh ◽  
Troy Day
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Adaptive Changes ◽  
Multiple Generations ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Evolutionary Thought ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Nongenetic Inheritance

A rapidly growing body of literature in several organisms suggests that environmentally-induced adaptive changes in phenotype can be transmitted across multiple generations. Although within-generation plasticity has been well documented, multigenerational plasticity represents a significant departure from conventional evolutionary thought. Studies of C. elegans have been particularly influential because this species exhibits extensive phenotypic plasticity, it is often essentially isogenic, and it has well-documented molecular and cellular mechanisms through which nongenetic inheritance occurs. However, while experimentalists are eager to claim that nongenetic modes of inheritance characterized in this and other model systems enhance fitness, many biologists remain skeptical given the extraordinary nature of this claim. We establish three criteria to evaluate how compelling the evidence for adaptive multigenerational plasticity is, and we use these criteria to critically examine putative cases of it in C. elegans. We conclude by suggesting potentially fruitful avenues for future research.

scholarly journals Maintenance of genetic variation in phenotypic plasticity: the role of environmental variation

2000 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERDIEN de JONG ◽  
SERGEY GAVRILETS
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Genetic Variance ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Reaction Norms ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Variable Environment ◽  
Linear Reaction

We study genetic variation in phenotypic plasticity maintained by a balance between mutation and weak stabilizing selection. We consider linear reaction norms allowing for spatial and/or temporal variation in the environments of development and selection. We show that the overall genetic variation maintained does not depend on whether the trait is plastic or not. The genetic variances in height and slope of a linear reaction norm, and their covariance, are predicted to decrease with the variation in the environment. Non-pleiotropic loci influencing either height or slope are expected to decrease the genetic variance in slope relative to that in height. Decrease in the ratio of genetic variance in slope to genetic variance in height with increasing variation in the environment presents a test for the presence of loci that only influence the slope, and not the height. We use data on Drosophila to test the theory. In seven of eight pair-wise comparisons genetic variation in reaction norm is higher in a less variable environment than in a more variable environment, which is in accord with the model's predictions.

scholarly journals Human bony labyrinth is an indicator of population history and dispersal from Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (16) ◽  
pp. 4128-4133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia S. Ponce de León ◽  
Toetik Koesbardiati ◽  
John David Weissmann ◽  
Marco Milella ◽  
Carlos S. Reyna-Blanco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Inner Ear ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
Population History ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Dna Recovery ◽  
Bony Labyrinth

The dispersal of modern humans from Africa is now well documented with genetic data that track population history, as well as gene flow between populations. Phenetic skeletal data, such as cranial and pelvic morphologies, also exhibit a dispersal-from-Africa signal, which, however, tends to be blurred by the effects of local adaptation and in vivo phenotypic plasticity, and that is often deteriorated by postmortem damage to skeletal remains. These complexities raise the question of which skeletal structures most effectively track neutral population history. The cavity system of the inner ear (the so-called bony labyrinth) is a good candidate structure for such analyses. It is already fully formed by birth, which minimizes postnatal phenotypic plasticity, and it is generally well preserved in archaeological samples. Here we use morphometric data of the bony labyrinth to show that it is a surprisingly good marker of the global dispersal of modern humans from Africa. Labyrinthine morphology tracks genetic distances and geography in accordance with an isolation-by-distance model with dispersal from Africa. Our data further indicate that the neutral-like pattern of variation is compatible with stabilizing selection on labyrinth morphology. Given the increasingly important role of the petrous bone for ancient DNA recovery from archaeological specimens, we encourage researchers to acquire 3D morphological data of the inner ear structures before any invasive sampling. Such data will constitute an important archive of phenotypic variation in present and past populations, and will permit individual-based genotype–phenotype comparisons.

Ecology and biogeography in the introduction to “De bestiis marinis” by Georg Wilhelm Steller

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Stefano Mattioli
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Main Part ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Restricted Range ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
Modern Biology

The rediscovery of the original, unedited Latin manuscript of Georg Wilhelm Steller's “De bestiis marinis” (“On marine mammals”), first published in 1751, calls for a new translation into English. The main part of the treatise contains detailed descriptions of four marine mammals, but the introduction is devoted to more general issues, including innovative speculation on morphology, ecology and biogeography, anticipating arguments and concepts of modern biology. Steller noted early that climate and food have a direct influence on body size, pelage and functional traits of mammals, potentially affecting reversible changes (phenotypic plasticity). Feeding and other behavioural habits have an impact on the geographical distribution of mammals. Species with a broad diet tend to have a wide distribution, whereas animals with a narrow diet more likely have only a restricted range. According to Steller, both sea and land then still concealed countless animals unknown to science.

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